


The Field Ballad

by AltraViolet



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: M/M, Mild Fluff, Poetry, Visages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-01 23:37:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17253518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AltraViolet/pseuds/AltraViolet
Summary: Secret Solenoid gift for Aethergeologist!//“How unusual,” said Crosscut, leaning on the bar. He glanced from Rodimus to Megatron. “He hasn't been in here before.”“Neither of them have,” hissed Mirage. “I did not know you were aware of my establishment, captain.”“I wasn't until a few hours ago,” Rodimus said. He reviewed the succinct message he had received earlier with the coordinates.Your presence at 20:00 would be appreciated at the following location...





	The Field Ballad

**Author's Note:**

> Secret Solenoid gift for Aethergeologist!

“Captain, _captain!_ Is this your doing?” Mirage stood behind his bar, hands on hips, lips pursed.

Rodimus grinned at him and swung up onto a bar stool. “Nope.”

“This is going to be _terrible_ for business!”

“Sure is,” said Mainframe. He jumped down from his stool. “Sorry, Mirage. I'm outta here. C'mon Huffer.” The two followed the other mechs who were filing out of _Visages,_ grumbling and muttering and shooting Megatron death looks. 

Megatron ignored them and continued arranging chairs in a semi-circle in front of the stage area.

“How unusual,” said Crosscut, leaning on the bar. He glanced from Rodimus to Megatron. “He hasn't been in here before.”

“Neither of them have,” hissed Mirage. “I did not know you were aware of my establishment, captain.”

“I wasn't until a few hours ago,” Rodimus said. He reviewed the succinct message he had received earlier with the coordinates. _Your presence at 20:00 would be appreciated at the following location_. Rodimus slapped his hand on the bar top. “Your fanciest drink, Mirage!”

Mirage grumbled and bent behind the bar. Crosscut looked at Rodimus and shrugged. A few mechs remained in the corners of the room, bathed in impersonal neon light, whispering among themselves. 

Megatron sat and crossed one leg over the other, a ring of empty chairs around him. He reset his vocalizer and spoke, loudly and clearly:

_Come close, friends  
Hear how I stole  
The heart of a star-_

“Thirteen shanix,” said Mirage, pushing a drink against Rodimus's hand.

“Put it on my tab,” Rodimus said.

Mirage narrowed his eyes.

“This poem doesn't rhyme,” said Crosscut, one finger tapping his face plate, eyes bright with concentration.

“It's not _supposed_ to rhyme,” said Mirage. “It's a _field ballad_.”

“A what?” Rodimus said. He took a swig of the fancy drink. It was too small. But its fluted glass was pretty and it tasted good.

“A field ballad.” Mirage wiped the counter where Rodimus had spilled a few drops. “A performative art that began in the mines, where spaces were tight and words were precious.”

“The mines?” Rodimus watched Megatron. He sat calmly in his chair, looking out at the cool space around him. “How do _you_ know that?”

“How do you _not?_ ”

Crosscut's ocular ridges furrowed. “I don't get it,” he said. “Why doesn't it rhyme?”

Mirage sighed, as if explaining the esoteric arts was headache-inducing for him. “There's a rhythm to the words that only flows well when you sit within the field of the speaker. As melody does for lyrics. Like this.” Mirage spoke, pushing his field out to punctuate the words with emotion:

_my beloved [cherish]  
sits with me [delight]  
beneath the stars [wonder]  
low gravity, our arms rise together [weightless]  
and we are one_

The cherish/delight/wonder/weightless feelings combined into a swirling emotion that brushed against their fields for a moment, warming them through, before vanishing.

“Did you feel that at the end? The feelings became one, as the spoken words described. A skilled performer can shell the field pulses to create a greater image/feeling for the poem,” said Mirage. “That's why you must sit closely to get the full effect.” He waved at the empty chairs around Megatron. “And why it doesn't need to rhyme.”

“Huh,” Rodimus said, the memory of that warmth lingering in his lines.

“That was pretty good!” said Crosscut. “I wonder if I can integrate that into my plays... I imagine that's pretty good for horror stories.”

“Oh, _yes_ ,” said Mirage. “It's frightful to behold the tales that were once told.”

_Come close, friends  
Hear how I stole  
The heart of a star-_

“Now he's just repeating himself,” said Crosscut.

“He's inviting you to sit by him to hear and feel his tale,” said Mirage. “See how he has placed his chair on the floor, not the stage? He needs an audience sitting _with_ him, not sitting _before_ him. He cannot continue with no audience.”

“We have to sit in _his_ field? No way, I'm out.” Crosscut threw shanix on the bar top. “Good luck with that, Mirage.”

“ _Great_ ,” said Mirage, scooping up the shanix. “Captain! Do you see what his presence is doing to my business?”

“I do,” Rodimus said, watching the mechs in the corners look at each other in confusion. He thought he saw Getaway and Tailgate way in the back together. 

“Would you _do something_ about it?”

“Sure!” Rodimus lifted his drink, pinkie out, and walked to Megatron. “Yo!”

Megatron looked at Rodimus in that careful, guarded way he had. He expressed neither delight nor distaste. He just observed.

“You're pissing Mirage off by being here,” Rodimus said. He turned one of the chairs around backwards and sat, crossing his arms over the top of it. “So please, continue.” Rodimus raised his fancy glass to him.

Behind him, Rodimus heard a cultured scoff.

The very corners of Megatron's mouth turned up _ever_ so slightly. Rodimus grinned at him. Megatron raised his arms and began, his gestures carving imagery of their own:

_When I was a very young mech [innocence]  
I looked up the cold mineshaft and saw stars [astonished]  
Glittering, beautiful, far [breathless]  
I longed to take them in my hands, as I take ore [yearning]  
And bathe them in the light of my spark [adoration]_

Rodimus gripped the chair. Megatron's field was precise and _intense_ \- the emotions were layered and delivered expertly. Rodimus _saw_ the stars crowning the dark mineshaft and _felt_ the joy and sadness of beholding them from a great distance. 

_Damn,_ thought Rodimus. _He honed his oratory skills with this type of performance? No wonder he convinced so many mechs to follow him._

_Til one fateful day, my superior [loathe]  
Took me aside and showed me datasheets [surprise]  
Freedom! I was released from the mines! [joy]  
My savior a ship captain! [shock]  
And we were going to the stars! [joy]_

_Why did they have **me** aboard? [questioning]  
The crew were made of soft metals and hard thoughts [alienated]  
Microscopes, satellites, rovers all [intimidated]  
Our mission: to explore, to locate [adventure!]  
And tear out the heart of a star [surprise]_

_The perfect star was found [suspense]  
Though none would take the fiery leap [fear]  
But **my** mining plating, **my** deep toils [pride]  
Made me uniquely strong [pride!]  
And the captain ordered me into its depths [destiny]_

_“Rip out its heart!” said he [cruelty]  
“A star's heart is its power” [greed]  
I plunged below the plasma mantle [fear]  
Between the layers of heat and more heat [pain]  
My optics scorched white, my plating scorched black! [pain!]  
And I found the heart of the star [wonder]_

_A beast! Its heart was beast! Alive and aflame! [astonished]  
With claws and spines of fire, it fought me! [struggle]  
With my wits and my strength, I captured it! [victory]  
The captain showered me in praise and shanix [pride]  
And the beast was chained to the engine [rage]_

Something smacked Rodimus's shoulder. “Ow!” He rubbed it and glared. “Hey!”

“Pardon me, _captain_ ,” said Getaway, pushing past. He dragged Tailgate behind him, firmly gripping the little bot's hand. 

“Wait!” said Tailgate, “I wanna hear how it ends-” but Getaway pulled him out the door. Other mechs followed, filing out of the bar.

Rodimus shook his head. “Rude!” he called. 

Megatron continued as if there had been no interruption.

_But for every victory, a price [trepidation]  
Wounded in the heat of the star: plates fused, plates broken [pain]  
I stood guard at the engine doors, demoted [discontent]  
I heard the beast's crying, its pain [sadness]  
I heard it sobbing for its home [wretched]_

_I opened the engine: it shivered and quaked [pity]  
Its fiery spines had retracted, it was no beast! [surprise]  
It stood on two legs, like a mech [astonished]  
Powerful, **beautiful** , proud [smitten]  
The heart of a star, in chains [smitten]_

_“You tore me away!” it cried [blame]  
It struggled against its chains [anger]  
The cruelty of its treatment, its torment [empathy]   
Gripped my spark [outrage]_

Megatron made the slightest pause in his gesticulations and looked right at Rodimus.

_And I snapped its chains with my bare hands [pride]  
“Come with me and I shall care for you” [sincerity]_

Rodimus shivered.

_“Trust **you** , who are so cold? You're barely alive! [insulting]  
Why did you tear me from my home? [rage]  
Without me my star will die!” [mourning]  
And I hung my head. “I had orders.” [shame]_

_“I ask you, look here and forgive,” I pleaded [desperate]  
I bared my spark [unashamed]  
“My body is cold. But it carries this piece of me [vulnerable]  
Which is just like you” [hopeful]  
And it gazed into my spark [entranced]_

_A fiery hand reached out, touched me [wonder]  
Warmth and life saturated my frame [warmth]  
I gasped! Such beauty! Such strength! [adoration]  
The heart of the star [adoration!]  
Held me in its embrace [joy!]_

Rodimus gasped. The waves of adoration and joy permeated his field and soaked into his plating. _I didn't know he could even feel those things!_ thought Rodimus. _You think you know a mech-_

_I murdered the captain for his greed! [bloodlust!]  
Slew the crew for their compliance! [revenge!]_

_Ah,_ thought Rodimus. _**There** it is._

_Brought their spark chambers to my dear creature [duty]  
We jettisoned them into its dead sun [grim]  
An offering: to rest with dignity [softened]_

_We travel the stars together: cooling flame and broken steel [joy]  
The stars greet us with warmth and light [happiness]  
Between the purple-green nebulae and the quasars [awe]  
We declare our bond to the universe [lust]  
And my star heart and I are one [love]_

“ _Wow,_ ” said Rodimus, as the last shell of Megatron's field dissipated around him. “Was that- was that supposed to be a _romantic_ ballad?”

“That is one interpretation,” said Megatron. “It's a classic miner ballad: the miner escapes his underground prison and reaches the literal stars. But it is also a layered tale of forgiveness. The miner and the star creature forgive each other. Then, working together, they get revenge against those that used them.”

“What's it called?”

“ _The Miner Who Stole The Heart of A Star._ ”

“That's a terrible title,” said Rodimus. “Awful.”

“That's how all the miner ballads were titled. We told them in close quarters. They were one of the few ways we could bond.” Megatron brushed his field very gently against Rodimus's. “You should feel a field ballad in an enclosed space some time,” he said softly. “It is a powerful experience.”

“Heh, slow down,” said Rodimus. “Not sure I'm ready for enclosed-space-storytelling yet.”

“Very well.” Megatron reset his vocalizer. “Would you like to hear another?”

“Yeah,” said Rodimus. “Wait.” He turned the chair the right way around. He leaned forward, hands on his knees. “Yeah. Tell another one. Got anything that doesn't end in a bloodbath? A happy ending for the miner and his star _and_ their crew?”

Megatron smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm uh... not sure if I'm good at fluff. I don't see Megatron fluff-ily fawning over Rodimus, but I _do_ see him using poetry as an extremely heavy-handed metaphor for feelings! Hope you enjoyed this symbolic/obvious gesture Megatron made, Aethergeologist, and have a very Happy New Year!


End file.
